Commemorate
by MelancholyMadness
Summary: The villagers had always hated him, but every year on the night that they celebrated the fall of the Kyuubi, it got worse. The people who usually ignored him glared, and the others who glared...


This is probably over done, but the idea was nagging me and I kept TRYING to read, but my head just kept saying WRITE, WRITE, WRITE... and I find that you can only write when you're in a writing mood and... Well, take what you get. :D

So, in this, Naruto is eight and obviously doesn't know about the Kyuubi, so therefore doesn't know why the villagers hate him. I apologize if this is OOC... The fact that this is on FANFICTION proves that I don't own Naruto... If I did... I'd crush NaruSaku and go NARUHINA ALL THE WAY!... This isn't NaruHina by the way.

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><p>Naruto didn't understand. The villagers had always hated him, civilian and shinobi alike, but every year on the night that they celebrated the fall of the Kyuubi, it got worse. The people who usually ignored him glared, and the others who glared...<p>

He ran as fast as he could through the night, turning down streets and passages, but he was running out of breath. The men chasing him were older, had longer legs, and could run farther than he could. After all, he was only eight.

Spotting a familiar alley way, he turned as abruptly as possible and ducked to squeeze through the hole in the fence that he knew was hidden behind an empty crate. The only mistake that he made was scratching his back on the jagged edges of the cut wires, but there was no time to stop. The men would be catching up, and even though they couldn't fit through the hole, they would be able to climb over the fence itself.

"Demon brat! You won't get away that easy!" One of them shouted, his words slightly slurred, as if he had drank before joining the mob. His shouts were followed by a chorus of agreement.

"We'll get you, you damned demon! The Yondaime destroyed you once, but we'll finish you off this time!"

He dodged and turned, taking side street after side street, his tiny lungs bursting, but still he kept running. He knew what would happen if he stopped.

After turning a sharp corner he realized his error. Instead of the side street he was hoping for, he came face to face with a brick wall. Trash cans and discarded boxes littered it, but there was no escape. He turned around, hoping to flee before the mob flooded the exit, but the glazed eyes of his attackers were all that he met. Many were staggering as they drew nearer.

Squashing his instinct to freeze like a deer in headlights, he charged, the stench of intoxication growing stronger as the distance between them grew shorter. Instead of ploughing right through them as he planned, a strong fist grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the far wall.

The man's hungry smile grew. "Not so strong now, are you monster? How could a brat like you kill so many strong men? Do you like tearing apart families?" The man swung, his clenched fist hitting him in the jaw. "ANSWER ME!"

Naruto looked down feeling helpless. "No." He mumbled, not completely understanding the question, but not wanting to risk the pain that may follow clarification.

"_What? _I can't hear you! Did you _enjoy _ripping up the people we loved?"

His eyes started to tear, but he raised his head defiantly anyway. "No, I don't." he said speaking clearly. He never gave up.

A second man shoved the one holding his collar, pulling his neck in the opposite direction of his body as the man didn't let go, only to punch his stomach. Gasping for air, he fell to the ground.

Other men joined in, not only making use of their hands, but their feet too. Naruto didn't cry out, knowing that it was useless. No one would save him. Everywhere seemed to hurt all at once with so many people attacking him when abruptly, one shout tore threw them all.

"THIS WAS ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF MY FATHER WHEN YOU FINISHED HIM!"

The man had a knife, and was displaying it for the crowd to see. It seemed that none of the others had thought to bring tools. As he drew closer, they backed away, realizing that more pain could be delivered by the weapon.

Naruto realized this as well, and tried to get to his feet, yet his attempts were futile. Not only were his legs bruised and beaten to the point where standing was difficult, but the two men who were closest stomped hard on his legs, while another two crushed his hands.

The man with the knife smiled widely, so widely that it looked as if his face might permanently be stretched maniacally. Tears ran down the boy's face, but he made no noise still. "Now you'll know pain. You'll feel it as your blood drains from the many gashes I'll leave in you, and maybe when you die our loved ones will finally _REST IN PEACE_!" And he brought the knife down. Naruto clenching his eyes shut... but the pain never came. Instead there was screaming and multiple thuds. About a whole second later all was silent.

He slowly opened his eyes to see an ANBU with spiked silver hair staring at him, the bodies of the mob all strewn across the alley. His eye brows scrunched up, as he looked at the lone ANBU.

"Are they dead?" he asked timidly, his voice croaking.

The ANBU glanced at the mob. "The only reason they aren't is because they are citizens of Konoha."

Naruto visibly relaxed, relieved that he wasn't responsible for any deaths.

This time, it was the ANBU who looked confused. These men had been attacking him, yet he still worried about their health.

Naruto smiled. "They don't hurt anyone else, and they didn't manage to kill me because of you, so they shouldn't have to die. I don't know why they say that I killed their families, but I don't want these people to leave their families hurt too."

The ANBU went down and scooped him up, very careful to not jostle any of his newly gained injuries. Naruto flinched none the less, but after the initial picking up, he was fine.

"Mr. ANBU, what's your name?" He asked innocently, as 'Mr. ANBU' jumped onto the roof, and began gracefully bounded from house to house, his feet barely touching the ground.

"I'm Dog."

"Dog? That's a funny name! I'm Naruto!" He responded cheerfully.

"It's the animal on my mask." 'Dog' explained and with that they arrived at the large building marked 'Hospital'.

When they entered the room, there were many gasps. Naruto didn't think that they saw an ANBU every day.

The lady behind the desk jumped, completely caught off guard, not by the ANBU, but by the hurt boy in his arms, which shocked Naruto. "What have you done to this poor-" and then she saw who it was, in fact, that the man was carrying.

No longer as caring as she had been for the broken and bruised boy bleeding in the arms of the ANBU, she went back behind the reception desk and acted as if they weren't there. Her only reaction was a small 'humph' as she hit the padding of her office chair.

Dog walked up to the desk, his posture demanding and radiating authority. "This boy has been injured greatly. Under my order as an ANBU captain, give him a room."

The Woman looked shocked, but continued ignoring them.

Dog hit the bell that was situated on the desk with a light 'ding'.

The woman began furiously doodling on her work.

"If you don't give this _child_a room, the results won't be appealing." Dog threatened. If he weren't wearing a mask, Naruto felt that he would be glaring. "Do as I say, and no one gets hurt."

This seemed to increase he hearing, because she soon gestured to follow her, and she slowly got up from her chair. Naruto didn't understand why the lady was moving so slow, when he had seen her almost appear instantly when they first walked in the door hurt and bloodied.

When they finally stopped walking, she gestured inside and Dog gently placed him on the bed. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was completely passed out.

When he woke up, he was in the exact same condition he was when he fell asleep. His confusion was short lived because it was at that moment that he heard the voice that belonged to Dog yell "Giving him a room includes treating him! What kind of monster doesn't want to treat an eight year old!"

"He's the monster, not us!" A different woman shouted. "Don't treat us like idiots!"

The masked man sighed. "If you treat this boy, I swear that he won't hurt you or your colleagues. I will stay and protect you, but my medical ninjutsu is poor and I can't treat him myself."

"You must swear to protect us." the woman insisted, her voice sounding nervous.

"Fine."

Five men and woman filed into his room, all wearing hospital attire, followed closely by a resigned looking Dog.

The treatment was long. It turned out that his hands, and right leg had been shattered, he had attained several broken ribs, along with serious bruising, but when they finished, they all quickly filed out of the room leaving him there with Dog.

The man nodded and proceeded to move toward the window.

Naruto realized that he was leaving and called out. "Why did you help me? The others don't like me, especially today."

Dog turned his head to face him and said clearly, "My sensei would kill me if I didn't." To Naruto, it sounded like the man was smiling, or at least smirking. On that note, Dog jumped out the window.

Naruto smiled. That man was strange... in a good way.

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><p>I'm not sure if I like the hospital scene, and I wasn't sure where I was going with the whole thing, so my ending was balls, but... Oh Kakashi, you are so amazing! Speaking of amazing, a big thanks to Madi (Madik) for beta-ing this on so such short notice! THANK YOU MADI! I'm gonna be gone for the next two weeks, but I hope to see at least FIVE REVIEWS (Friends, you don't count... but I like your reviews too...). THANKS! AND REVIEW! -Ash<p> 


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